In the year to 31 May 2010, sales at the Bicester web offset printing company edged up 1.7% to £55.1m, gross profit leaped from £617,000 to £4.9m, and operating losses were cut by almost £6m to £7.8m. The pre-tax loss was £11.9m, a recovery of £7.4m on the previous year’s results.

New contracts currently coming on-stream, including work from Bauer, DC Thomson and Northern & Shell, will add £10m of added-value to the company, excluding any insert revenue, according to chief executive David Holland.

"In the new year, we will be somewhere near to where we wanted to be. We are not a distressed business anymore and can now focus on the original vision," he said.

"Before, we had the technology, but we didn’t have the scale of operation. Now we have both. We will be refining the fill to optimise the commerciality of the investment. Come the new year, we will be in the black on a consistent basis."

Quizzed about pricing, he added: "I think we’ve been very competitive, but I don’t believe we’ve been the lowest price on any of the contracts we’ve won."

A web offset rival commented: "If volume was their objective, they’ve achieved it. Now they’ve got to digest it."

At a group level, sales were effectively static at £66.4m and pre-tax loss reduced to £12.5m (2009: £18.7m).

Goodhead also includes Banbury sheetfed house Stones the Printers, which had a tough year and struggled to pass on paper price rises to its customers. From break-even in 2009 it swung to a £1.2m pre-tax loss on sales down 10% to £16.6m.

The firm is now offering a less varied proposition in terms of paper, with 90% of stock being bought on reels for sheeting.

"If people want something more exotic they can have it, but they’ve got to pay for it," said Holland, who also expects Stones to benefit from additional cover printing work for BGP.

Goodhead owner Sir John Madejski, who reiterated his long-term commitment to the business in an interview with PrintWeek during the summer, loaned the group an additional £10.8m during the period, and has extended further financial support since.

The directors said it was "unlikely" that any additional funding would be required.

Holland said the group’s ballooning pension deficit, which increased from £4.6m to £8m, was a result of poor covenant assumptions "which we had to accept".

"The next valuation is in 2012 and the covenant will be a lot better," he added.

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GOODHEAD RESULTS 2010
Group turnover
£66.4m (2009: £65.9m)
Pre-tax loss
£12.5m (2009: £18.7m)

BGP
Turnover
£55.1m (2009: £54.2m)
Pre-tax loss
£11.9m (2009: £19.3m)

Stones the Printers
Turnover
£16.6m (2009: £18.4m)
Pre-tax loss
£1.2m (2009: £146k profit)